The present disclosure is directed to an improved adapter to be mounted on an elongate strip for strip lighting purposes. The present adapter has a function which will be more readily understood on a description of the supporting structure. Briefly, it is intended for use with a support structure which will be defined as a strip base. The strip base is constructed of generally flat stock, has an indefinite length, and is formed with a protective plastic face. It supports spaced, upstanding connective spades, that term being applied to the protruding electrical current delivering metal tabs which are uniformly spaced so that current is provided for operation of lamps supported on the strip. The strip is normally quite long, and hence will support many lamps. As will be understood, each lamp normally involves first and second end located terminals so that the spades have alternating polarity. That is, an even number of spades is arranged along the strip, and the spades deliver electrical current for customary operation of lamps having end located current-drawing terminals. By this arrangement, a multitude of lamps is normally installed on the strip. The lamps are normally installed by making contact. The contact is accomplished between adjacent spades. The spades, arranged in pairs, thus are utilized to support conventional and well known lamps for providing strip illumination for decorative purposes, and the like.
The present disclosure however is an improved adapter which particularly enables use of a brighter lamp. There is a certain requisite lighting level accomplished with conventional incandescent or fluorescent bulbs in strip lighting. To achieve even better lighting, halogen lamps are installed. Halogen lamps however differ in that they have different mounting for the electrical contacts. A halogen lamp is ordinarily constructed with two pins or wires which extend from the same end of the envelope which comprises the lamp. In contrast with incandescent or fluorescent construction, the halogen bulb does not have two spaced apart, current consuming electrodes. Rather, the two pin connectors or contacts extend from a common end which makes it somewhat difficult to connect. In other words, since the pins extend from the same end of the lamp, they must connect at spades which straddle the lamp when installed on the strip.
Such a strip as described herein is set forth better in application Ser. No. 198,083 which was filed on May 24, 1988, and which is the property of the common assignee of the present disclosure. Moreover, representative earlier patents of strips with lamp adapters are set forth as for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,568 which issued on Feb. 11, 1986. The adapter shown in the latter disclosure and those adapters which are typical of that genre set out supporting structures which are installed in a different kind of spade supporting, power furnishing strip. The present apparatus, however, adds features which make it much easier to mount and demount. In other words, the adapter of this disclosure is mounted on spades which are more readily engaged and disengaged, and in that sense, represent a structure which is more easily handled. For instance, the strip of the present disclosure can support a string of many halogen lamps, all using the present adapter which can be installed or removed or selectively serviced with high speed. Simple hand manipulation will accomplish servicing.
Another useful feature of the present apparatus is the incorporation of spring or snap loading springs for locking on the current providing spades. This provides a sure frictional grip, and more importantly, adds sufficient spring loaded engagement that current flow from the current conducting spade into the lamp is accomplished with a minimum of contact resistance. The contact area is completely sheltered by a surrounding non-conductive plastic housing for safety sake. Another valuable feature of the present disclosure is the utilization of a hidden and completely enclosed or recessed set of conductors. That is, the conductors are never exposed on the exterior. Beginning with recessed contacts which contact the spades, the conductors are all completely enclosed and therefore accidental contact is prevented. Another valuable feature is the incorporation of a two-part construction wherein the body of the adapter is made of a described high impact electrical insulating plastic material, and the formation of a polished surface thereon by means of a surface bonded layer which enhances reflectivity. The surface layer provides a surface which reflects and yet diffuses the light so that sharp point lighting is distributed when the halogen lamp is turned on. This is valuable to provide more uniform lighting from the strip. This strip is ordinarily covered with a translucent cover which is intended to readily transmit light therethrough and which is translucent to assure avoidance of spot illumination so that the user will not be able to see the filaments of the various lamps supported by the strip.
The present structure is therefore summarized as a single piece construction of a demountable adapter. It is adapted to be fastened on a pair of upstanding similarly constructed parallel spades which are located at a fixed distance from one another. The spades provide positive and negative current conducting terminals. The adapter has a single piece construction and thus includes spade receiving terminals at opposite ends. At both ends, there is an enlargement which has an internal cavity, and a leaf spring is located therein to bear against the spade inserted into the cavity. The leaf spring is formed of conductive metal to assure a low resistance serial conducting contact with the current providing spades. Moreover, the two terminals connect with two conductors. They extend to a socket which is integrally constructed within one end of the structure, and the socket has a pair of openings to receive current conducting pins from a lamp. The preferred and known form of lamp is a halogen lamp which has a glass envelope with a pair of pins at one end, and these pins are located in accordance with an industry standard. The adapter is formed of a high impact plastic material which is an insulator. It has a surface which is relatively reflective, and the surface is optionally coated. The lamp is located between ends of the adapter, and the adapter, between the ends, is constructed so that there are three sides exposed and facing the lamp. The three sides describe a truncated "V" with two upstanding sides at divergent positions, inscribing at an angle of about 60.degree. to 90.degree. therebetween. This serves as a type of light reflector. These surfaces are optionally coated with an adherent or bonded layer which assures a relatively white body which is polished to a measure, but which is also slightly irregular to assure substantial light reflection with a measure of diffusion to thereby avoid spots of light from the strip fixture.